Jun'ichiro Tanizaki

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki (1886–1965) was one of the giants of modern Japanese literature — a writer of astonishing range, sensual intelligence, and narrative sophistication whose career spanned more than half a century and the entire tumultuous arc of modern Japanese history. Born in Tokyo, he was drawn throughout his career to the erotic, the perverse, and the aesthetic, finding in the tension between tradition and modernity a subject rich enough for a lifetime of fiction.

His major works — Naomi, Some Prefer Nettles, The Makioka Sisters, The Key, Diary of a Mad Old Man — together constitute one of the most extraordinary bodies of work in twentieth-century fiction. His essay In Praise of Shadows (1933) is a meditation on Japanese aesthetics and the nature of beauty in darkness that has become a classic of cultural philosophy. He was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize and translated into dozens of languages. The Tanizaki Prize, Japan's most prestigious literary award, bears his name.